Not Needing to be Rescued
by FreckledAdvocate
Summary: After some sort of accident in gym class that she doesn't remember Kat wakes up in none other than Pat Verona's arms as he carries her to the nurse. Now she finds herself struggling with duel emotions of indignation and attraction. R&R, early season.
1. Chapter 1

Kat had a headache. That was all she knew. She was sleeping, and she had a headache. She groaned because this meant she was going to have to get up out of bed and walk to her bathroom for some Advil. Then it would take at least half an hour to kick in and the whole thing was just annoying. But wait a minute… something wasn't right. Was she…_moving?_

"Shh." A voice said above her, "You're okay."

_What?! Who the hell was that?! _She groggily startled awake, opening her eyes in panicked confusion. Patrick Verona's eyes were staring back at her. She _was_ moving; because he was carrying her in his arms!

"Patrick? What do you think you're doing?!"

Her head was pounding and she was so confused. But even without knowing the full situation the emotions she automatically conveyed were anger and indignation. _How dare he carry her!_

"What am I, some kind of damsel in distress?!"

He smirked at her irritatingly.

"Oh would you calm down. Do you even remember what happened?"

She paused thinking hard intending to answer haughtily that she did, but all she got was a painful red haze. She scowled.

"Maybe not," She reluctantly conceded, but then retorted aggressively, "But if I had to take a guess I'd say you clubbed me over the head and are now dragging me back to your Neanderthal cave to have your way with me because you seem to have some sick fascination with being an interruption in my life as a stone aged level chauvinist pig."

"Gee! How did you know?" He responded sarcastically. Then he continued, "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I was doing you a favor? The only reason why I wouold do so of course is because of the boatloads of praise I get for helping out a defenseless girl like you!"

"That's it. Put me down _right_ now!"

Kat started to squirm in his arms. But he refused to let her down. She felt oddly weak anyway.

"Hey c'mon, I was only joking. You're obviously not a damsel, in distress or otherwise, jeez."

"Let me down!" Kat insisted harshly in a tone that made most people comply instantly out of fear. She was starting to feel more and more embarrassed as she became more awake. For some unknowable reason Patrick Verona carrying her bridal style through their high school halls. Anyone could look out a classroom and see. She didn't spend her entire high school career building up a reputation as a strong formidable woman only to be seen rescued by a scumbag like Verona from something she didn't even remember.

"No." He said firmly, but not unkindly. "Look you took a serious hit to the head and I don't want you to risk walking on your own feet just yet. At least let me get you to the nurse, and then you can spout oodles of feminist crap at me to your heart's content, okay?"

She folded her arms glaring at him stonily, but she stopped fighting to get down all the same. The scowl was aimed in his direction, making him aware of her anger. But little did he know that the anger was dually directed at both him and her. There was anger toward him for disrespecting her wishes and assuming her to be weak because she was a female. And there was anger at herself because she realized that as she gave up squirming she settled into his arms and the fact that she was comfortable, that she could feel his muscles supporting her and liked the feel of being tucked against his chest. He smelt good, and the fact that this mattered even subconsciously made her even more irate than the assumption that she needed to be rescued. KAtarina Stratford hated being the girl who had a crush on a guy because it made her feel weak. Strong feminist woman couldn't be weak enough to let any guy have a hold over her emotions like that, at least she shouldn't. Which is why the scowl was also directed at herself in disgust.

However knowing none of this internal warfare, Patrick assumed all the ire revolved around him so he tried to alleviate the tense silence.

"Look would you feel any better if I said I would do the same thing for a bird with a broken wing?"

"Oh so you're comparing me to a wounded animal? Thanks, I feel much better."

"No. I just meant that I'm not helping you because you're female. Like if you were the captain of the boys' football team I would do the same…" He paused contemplating what he was saying, "No, actually I wouldn't; but only because he's an asshole. But if you were some male that happened to not be an asshole, I would still carry him to the nurse in this situation. Get it?"

She did, but she was still too annoyed with the situation to give him any satisfaction of relieving her anger. He groaned, his head looking up to the ceiling. Kat noticed his long neck was long from this angle, very attractive, and then she got a strong urge to kick herself in the face if that were physically possible.

"Well for what its worth I think what you did was brave. It proved your standing as a stubborn crazy bitch, but still brave." He said it so nonchalantly. Now it was her turn to sigh because she knew he wasn't going to elaborate until she asked the inevitable question. So she ignored the concealed insult and asked instead what both of them knew she was going to ask.

"So, what exactly did I do that was so crazy and yet so brave?"

Patrick laughed.

"You insisted on playing goalie in our gym class's game of hockey because you didn't think it was fair that Coach always picks boys to do it. Of course this is only because the helmets don't usually fit over girls' ponytails – like yours. But rather than be safe, or rational, you screeched out some feminist power thing and became goalie with a total lack of fear, or a helmet. And of course Tyler Fogule, the hockey team's best offense player, hit you square in the forehead. I offered to take you to the nurse when you passed out."

Kat's face turned red. She was remembering bits and pieces of what he said now.

"Oh yea." She said sheepishly, and miserably, too mortified to say anything else. _Why was she such an idiot!? _

Luckily she was saved by any more awkwardness because Patrick had just reached the door to the nurse's office. He knocked and gave an explanation to the nurse, a very bubbly woman that genuinely cared about every student who came in her office. She let Patrick lower her onto the bed and decided that for once she wasn't going to be openly hostile. He _was_ only trying to help. And the nurse was too nice to verbally abuse anyway.

He lowered her gently onto the bed. It was comfortable, but not nearly as warm. She hated to admit it but she wished she was still in his arms. Then her head started to throb and took away all of her attention before she could address any more self-hatred to herself.

She leaned back into the pillow letting him do all the talking. She was feeling weak again, and she really wanted that Advil. She tuned back in as she heard Ms. Abino (the nurse) earnestly thanking Patrick for bringing her in. She raised her head to look at him.

"Yea, Patrick, I think I owe you a thanks, too." He looked surprised, hell; she'd even surprised herself with that one. That may have been the first non-argumentative thing she'd ever said to him. Then another emotion seemed to flit across his face, concern maybe? She wasn't sure. She put her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes; her head really was killing her.

Next thing she knew the nurse was taking her temperature, and there was a cool ice pack pressed gingerly against her forehead. It was tender but felt good. She was forced to drink some apple juice and soon had enough energy to feel a little like herself again.

"Kat, I can't seem to get a hold of your father right now. Do you know where he is?"

Kat rolled her eyes, "Probably up to his elbows in placenta right now, you won't be able to get a hold of him for a while."

She heard a snigger and looked. Huh, that's funny, she thought Patrick had left, but there he was, leaning against a counter across the room. A sense of vertigo passed over her with the realization that unbeknownst to her he'd been in the room all along and never left.

"Okay, well I'm sorry dear. I would like to send you home but you're in no condition to drive, so I'm afraid you'll just have to stay here until the end of the day or whenever your father can get you." She really looked genuinely apologetic too. Kat sighed. She would much rather be home right now anyway, but all well. She could wait.

"Ms. Abino," Patrick said drawing attention to himself for the first time since Kat thought he left, "Would it be alright if I drove Kat home? I'd only be missing one class, and I'd hate for her to have to wait here indefinitely." Kat's eyes bugged out of her head. _He wants to what_? Maybe she hit her head harder than she thought.

Ms. Abrino thought it over. "Well, I don't have a problem with that as long as you get a pass from your next teacher. Kat, is that alright with you, and with your parents?" Ms. Abrino didn't know her father. She almost said no, declining the offer, but the thought of waiting forever for her father to come pick her up was just dreadful, so she blurted out instead, "Yea. That's fine with me." Patrick smiled behind Ms. Abrino's back.

"Okay be right back." He said, and was back within a few minutes confirming that his math teacher said to go ahead under the circumstances, as long as he made up his work. And soon Kat was walking out the front doors of the school with Patrick Verona.

"Want me to carry you?" He asked teasingly.

"Hardy har har." She said bitterly, but she couldn't help but notice that his hand was casually resting on the small of her back, as if ready to catch her or guide her if she needed him to. Both noticed that she didn't tell him to pull his hand away.

"Oh no!" She said, stopping abruptly in the middle of the parking lot.

"What?"

"Bianca, she doesn't know she needs a new ride home, she's gonna be stranded here." She made to turn around but he stopped her.

"Don't worry about it; I stopped in the main office after I got my pass to leave. They're gonna get the message to Bianca at the end of the day that her sister went home early."

"Alright what is this?" Kat accused suspiciously.

"What?" Patrick replied innocently, but he couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

"This _nice_ attitude, it's really starting to throw me off."

"Okay, okay, you caught me. This is all a diabolical plot to get you back to my Neanderthal cave and have my way with you."

She wanted to grin, but she stopped herself.

"No seriously."

"Seriously?" He asked, "Okay fine. _Seriously_, you're one of the few teenage girls I actually enjoy talking to. Even if by talk I mean fight with constantly. I find myself looking forward to our bickering as the highlight of my day, as pathetic as that is. You're witty and fun to be with, and quite frankly, if you wind up hurting your head and not being your usual bitchy self, I would really be quite upset over losing my daily dueling partner. I seriously like trying to get to know the real you, not the you you want everyone else to see."

The feminist in her was insulted, but the female in her wanted to swoon, but then, maybe that was the probable concussion talking.

"Kat, I just want to make sure you're okay. Okay?"

"Okay." She consented, partially due to a particularly painful throb in her temple. However this was also partially due to the fact that he was smiling which always stopped her train of thought short on the track.

She couldn't help it, she smiled back. He put a hand on her shoulder leading her forward.

Finally they reached their destination.

"Oh, and Kat?"

"Yea?"

"You're wearing a helmet." He gave her the only one he had as they stood next to his bike.


	2. Chapter 2

Patrick was nervous, and he _hated_ to admit it, even to himself. He knew how normal chicks saw his bike. They thought it was sexy, made him more likable, definitely a plus. That is, until they'd actually ridden it. He'd seen how much of a girl attractor the thing was, so of course he utilized it at first. Well, back when he was into blonde bimbos like the one that was recently stalking him. When he realized they were all the same, and almost all sluts he stopped pursuing and let the rumors accumulate around him with amusement, becoming a barrier between him and the society he was starting to hate.

However, before he'd reached that point, he'd taken a few girls for a ride on his bike. It was so glamorous and sexy, they thought, until they got on the back. Then they all started screeching in terror. They were all the same and it bored him so much. How every girl squealed and squeezed him, not in a good way, but in a vice-like grip that hindered breathing and could potentially make him lose grip on the bike handles. He never went over 20 miles per hour with a girl and they all screamed at him for speeding and "Almost getting them killed". It didn't take him long to figure it out, don't take a girl on the bike.

And now here was Kat Stranton standing next to him with his helmet in her hands. So he was nervous, because she was different. He _never_ tried to gain approval from anyone as a personal rule, but he _really_ wanted Kat to like him, and he wasn't really sure why. Either way he saw her face as she stared at the motorcycle, not necessarily with a look of fear, but almost one of awe. He got a flashback of a blonde his freshmen year that begged him to take him on it, when he finally conceded she refused to ever see him again. Kat wasn't like that girl, he certainly couldn't turn around and find a carbon copy of _her_ every five feet in the high school halls.

He lost his nerve.

"Hey actually, you know what? This is stupid. I don't suppose you would let me drive you home in your car?"

"You, behind the wheel of _my_ car? I don't think so." She answered automatically.

He bit his lip uncharacteristically. "Look I really don't think this is safe, what with your concussion and all."

"Well that's why I have the helmet."

"Yes but the helmet won't keep you on if you pass out, and you have to hold on to me if we want this to work."

"I won't pass out. I promise."

"It's still not smart."

She turned the helmet over in her hands. She was disappointed. She didn't say anything but she was really excited by the idea of riding on a motorcycle. Patrick, despite the predicament he was now in, couldn't resist making a jibe at her.

"And you claim you're not into me! Like I haven't seen this a thousand times before - you just want an excuse to hold on to me!" He mimed a hormone pumped teenage girl by placing his hands over his heart openly mocking her, "Why else would you be so determined? God Kat, stop being in love with me, its pathetic."

Kat's face turned red and her eyes flashed dangerously. She immediately turned defensive. In all honestly she hadn't thought about that aspect of it until he mentioned it now. But now that he did, she had a mental image of herself clinging to Patrick Verona, his muscular body being her only grasp to the bike that controlled the distinction between life and death. Her heart did speed up as she thought about the implacation of holding onto him all the way home, which of course filled her with self-disgust. She shook the image out of her head in rage and countered back at him.

"Excuse me! _You're_ the one who invited me along on this expedition after you carried me across the school! I think its plainly obvious that _you're_ the one in love with me! Not that you need an excuse to be pathetic! And actually that's got nothing to do with why I want to ride a motorcycle anyway dumbass!"

Now it was Patrick's turn to blush, as she had no idea how close to home her words hit.

"Then what other motive would you have for wanting to ride this when you have a perfectly safe car across the lot?" He shot back to keep the conversation flowing. He didn't want her contemplating how much he "loved" her (he quelled at the thought) anymore than he wanted to think about the possible truth in it himself.

She sighed, causing him to be instantly intrigued by what was going through her mind.

"Well?" He prodded.

"Alright, fine. I've always kind of wanted a motorcycle." She said this uneasily, as if telling him a secret, "But I've never been on one so I don't actually know if I would like one and as soon as you gave me the helmet I thought I would finally know what it feels like. I always assumed that if I tried it and liked it I would get one for myself."

"You want a…?" Patrick didn't finish his statement, he was too distracted by the thought flashing through his mind; Kat in a tight leather outfit sitting on a motorcycle. His mouth started watering and his eyes got a little wider, but he immediately shook away the thought before something happened in his pants that would really give him away. Kat didn't notice, instead she assumed he was having the same thought that most of society had when she shared this idea with anyone. She crossed her arms.

"What? Just because I'm a girl means I can't have a bike?"

"No." Patrick said grinning a bit at her, "I was just thinking how sexy you'd look on a motorcycle."

Kat was all ready to shoot back a witty feminist response to the jibe she was expecting, but she was not ready for that. She shut her mouth and blushed, not knowing how to react. Patrick smiled turning a little pink himself, surprised that he'd said it aloud, but then, he wasn't used to censoring what he was thinking anyway.

Patrick ran his hand through his unruly brown hair and sighed.

"Okay. You really want me to drive you home on this?"

Kat's stomach twisted, the thought made her a little nervous, but she couldn't deny that it was what she wanted.

"Yea, I really do."

He put his face in his hands for a minute, sitting on the motorcycle casually and facing her. She bit her lip, wondering what was going through his head.

"I tell you what, not right now."

"Aw, C'mon Pat I …"

"Wait." he liked hearing her call him Pat instead of her usual Patrick, "Look, I'm not saying no, just not right now. Can you honestly tell me you're not at least a little bit dizzy and your head feels fine."

She hesitated wanting to deny it, but at that exact moment her forehead gave a particularly painful throb, and she still didn't really feel a hundred percent good on her feet.

"Exactly" He continued knowingly, "Let me drive you home in your car, because I am honestly concerned about your head. Tomorrow, if you still want to, you can drive Bianca home and I'll come pick you up from your house and take you for a ride. Sound okay?"

She sighed, knowing he was probably right.

"Yea, I guess so."

He chuckled.

"What?" She said hotly.

"You sound so disappointed, it's like I just told you Mickey Mouse became a suicide bomber the day before you got to Disneyland."

She tried to look at him like he was insane, but he was grinning adorably, and she wound up bursting into a fit of laughter. He had a chuckle or two himself.

"Keys, please?" He said as she handed back the helmet, "After that little outburst it is quite obvious that you are not fit to drive ma'am." He said tilting a fake hat.

She rolled her eyes but grinned nonetheless as she handed over her keys.

"I suppose this is the better plan, because now I won't have to send someone out for the car later and I don't have to explain to my dad how I got home. He's never going to let me out tomorrow night though." Her face fell by this thought as he started the car.

After they started driving (he was a good driver which Kat hated to admit), he replied, "Well I guess you'll just have to tell him you're doing something else, going for a walk or something. I can meet you a few houses away."

She grinned mischievously.

"Okay."

He turned to look at her quizzically for a second before looking back at the road. He was surprised she consented so easily to lying to her father. He _really_ liked this girl.

"So you realize that you just agreed to go on a date with me."

Kat's face flushed again, that was happening a lot today. Her gut twisted nervously at the thought. A date? She would love to call it that, but wait… HE was grinning, making fun of her probably. She hated to be played like that.

"No. Definitely not a date, I'm just using you for your motorcycle is all."

She meant for it to come off as a bitter joke, a continuation of his to insult him for messing with her emotions like that. His face fell however, her words hurting more then she would ever guess they did. He pulled into her driveway and put the car in park. He turned to look at her in the seat next to him a sulky expression on his face.

"Why not?" He said sullenly.

She looked up from her scowl out the front windshield her arms folded across her chest and was surprised by the volatile emotions that seemed to be playing across his face.

"Why not what?" She said, confused by the question and getting a little lost in the intense eye contact.

"Why won't you go out with me?"

Her eyebrows went up and her stomach twisted painfully.

"Wait…you… you were serious? I just assumed you were making fun of me…" Kat said, completely out of her comfort zone. Patrick looked at her like she was crazy, probably because she was. But then as he realized how she must have perceived him, he understood why she got mad.

He held his breathe and tentatively reached across and took her hand. Her eyes got really wide. He knew he was pushing his luck, any second now she was going to shove him away.

"Yea Kat, I meant it. Will you please go out with me tmorrow night, and will you please consider it a date."

He was convinced that she would say no, stick to her guns, hell, he still didn't even think she liked him, never mind liked him like this. But she was just staring at him with wide eyes, surprise written all over her face. Then she grinned timidly, it wasn't a mocking smirk like he usually saw, but an honest grin. Then she nodded.

"Okay."

He beamed, she'd said, "okay"!

"Okay?" He said just to be sure. He felt like he was flying, he'd never been this happy that a girl had said yes to a date.

She was still nodding and grinning, "Yea. Okay…" Then she seemed to pull herself together a bit more and stop being openly thrilled, "Of course, it may just be the concussion talking, but okay, let's go out on a date."

Patrick Verona couldn't be happier as he walked around the car to open her door and walk her inside. And you could tell Kat was feeling either concussed or excessively happy too because she actually let him get the door. The female in her cheered getting ready to throw a parade, and she knew the feminist should be mad or suspicious, but she honestly didn't care.

Her head was killing her, she felt unsteady on her feet, she hadn't gotten to ride on a motorcycle today; but Patrick Verona had an arm around her shoulder and she, Katarina Stranton, actually had a date.

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_A/N: Wow. Thank you guys so much for the responses. I wasn't expecting so many after only one day. Please coment on this chapter too; i really appreciate either praise or criticism, anything to make me a better writer. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too, and don't worry, there's more to come. :) _

_Oh and yea, I did kind of get the idea of the first chapter from Twilights blood typing scene, but I made it my own (its not my fault its such a good scene haha) so yea, ya caught me. :P As for the fact that Pat probably wouldn't take her home on the bike, I think this chap clears that up lol. And its under hurt and angst bc i wasn't sure if i was going to continue and as a one-shot Kat's injury/ being rescued constitutes hurt/comfort; and both of them are just seething with teenage angst haha - if i could have picked a 3rd option it would definately be romance. _

_Hope you enjoyed, please review. :) - FA_


	3. Chapter 3

Patrick actually got up sort of early the next morning. He gave himself a whole half-hour to shower and get ready before leaving for school instead of his usual ten to fifteen minutes. He found that he was really looking forward to the day, he had an odd knot in his stomach he tried desperately to shake off. _C'mon liking a girl like Kat this much; now that's just pathetic_.

He grabbed his helmet and leather jacket going out to his bike and trying hard not to look forward to his next conversation with her, but not really succeeding. He pulled up to the school and grabbed a parking space near the front, for once, finding himself a few minutes early for school as well. Huh, that's strange, usually he pulls up as the bell rings and he barely makes it to class.

He decided not to go inside. Instead he would wait for the familiar dinosaur type car to pull up and talk with her this morning instead. It was a pleasantly chilly morning and he didn't want to subject himself to the clone-like gossiping that had no relevance at all on humanity and was probably issuing relentlessly from every teenagers mouth inside. So to pass the time he leaned back against a wall and glared at every student who walked past him just to gauge their responses. He was especially entertained by the freshmen responses of pure fear and hoped the ridiculous rumors were still circulating about him and had reached their ears. He really wanted to thank whoever had started the cannibalism one, that was pure genius.

However as the minutes dragged on and on, Patrick became less entertained by his own antics and more worried. Wasn't she usually here by now? Nothing was seriously wrong with her head was there?

He thought back to the night before. He'd graciously walked her inside and even made her a cup of tea in her own kitchen. She was seriously complaining of a headache and he gave her an ice pack from her freezer without being asked. Come to think of it, she'd seemed to get progressively worse as the afternoon wore on. When he'd suggested she go to bed she actually complied without arguing with him, which wasn't a good sign. Though truthfully she refused to let him carry her, even though she walked slowly, like a person with a migraine.

Finally around four she told him he had to leave because if her father found him in the house he'd have a conniption, or subject them both to drug tests, and possibly even a pregnancy test for her. He laughed, but she told him she wasn't kidding. She insisted she was absolutely fine, so he called a taxi on her phone to take him back to his motorcycle at school and he left after a quick goodbye she barely responded too.

Looking back on it now he cursed himself. Why hadn't he stayed with her, or called her later? He'd just assumed that after a little sleep she'd be okay. He checked his watch, the bell would ring in five minutes, and still no sign of Kat.

He looked up and saw a sight that made his stomach twist painfully. Bianca was getting out of a car in the lot, hurrying because she knew she was running late. But it wasn't the car that Patrick wanted to see, the classic piece of junk filled with character, it was her father's instead. And Kat was not inside of it.

"Bye Daddy! I'll see you at three!"

"Bye! And remember sweetie no sex, no violence, no boys, no -" Wow. The man really was crazy, wasn't he? But Bianca shut the door on him as if this was a daily practice. Then she proceeded up the steps and toward the school.

"Bianca!" Patrick called, vaguely wondering how it must appear for Patrick Verona, the dark scary people eater, to call the young perky blonde cheerleader by name.

"Yes?" she asked bounding over to him with her characteristic smile on her face.

"Where's your sister?"

"Daddy wouldn't let her come in today because of that huge bump on her forehead and the fact that she was running a slight fever. Honestly I think its better this way now she has time to let me buy her concealer so next time she has to walk the halls she won't have to worry about anyone staring at her forehead which is currently the color of an eggplant that has -"

"Yea. Ok. Thanks." Patrick said cutting her off rudely and shaking his head immediately put off by the pure bubbliness of Kat's sister's demeanor. How is it that this disgustingly happy girl was related to the dark and mysterious beauty that had unknowingly caught his eye? Where her sister would have been irate for his cutting her off, Bianca merely shut her mouth and smiled pleasantly.

"I think she wanted me to tell you that…" Bianca looked at the clouds remembering Kat's exact words, "Sorry but it'll have to wait". Whatever that means." Bianca shrugged uncaringly, "But I have to get to class, see you later Patrick!"

"Bye."

And with that she bounded into school happily, how she was so full of energy was beyond him, he could have sworn he actually witnessed her skip once or twice.

However perhaps her excitement was just alien to him because he found it impossible to be enthusiastic about anything right now with the realization that Kat wasn't coming into school today. He sighed. The bell rang and he gazed at the school in pure melancholy, what was the point?

Then an idea occurred to him, why hadn't he thought of this before? He jogged back to his bike in the parking lot. He skipped school all the time, no one would be surprised if he didn't show up. He threw his helmet on with renewed vigor and sped down the street, but not toward his house, there was only one place he wanted to be right now.

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_This is a pretty short chapter and I apologize, more is on the way :__J Thanks for reading. _


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